


My voice; a beacon in the night

by AliNear



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Death, Protective Siblings, Running Away, Time Travel, Vanya just wants to protect her brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22045135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliNear/pseuds/AliNear
Summary: When Vanya was locked into the sound proof prison she wasn't alone.Now 13 again, Vanya has to make her choice, for herself and her family
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 18
Kudos: 379





	My voice; a beacon in the night

The thing is. Luther didn’t enter the soundproof chamber before he found it, he didn’t check the room or look around, he didn’t see what was already in there. Instead he takes a step into the room, eyes trained on his smallest sister’s face ready to act I she wakes up, placing her down on the floor. Placing her down he jumped back, arms held apart as if to prepare for an animal attack as he took quick but cautious steps back, ignoring the lull of her head. Never turning his back away from his sister or looking away, even if she was facing the other way, head tilted towards the bed and legs crossing at the ankle. He closes the door with a slam, ignoring the hinges protest, locking it into place before finally relaxing.

If he had taken a moment to look around the room he might have noticed several things, such as the unmade bed, the odd smell in the air, the discarded oxford shoes, or even the porcelain plate licked clean of crumbs or anything that could have been on it now covered in a small layer of dust. Had he notice… well quite frankly whose to know what he would have done.

As it was, he didn’t notice, and left Vanya in a soundproof and rather airtight prison as he made his way up the stairs.

Vanya woke up to silence, complete and total silence, something unheard of in the city. It was unnatural and made her curl into herself for a moment, before the sensation of cold against her cheek and the hardness on her side full woke her up. Blinking back the blurriness of her vision, she caught sight of something.

“Hello?” she called softly, eyes darting around for a second before focusing back on the shape under the bed.

_Why had Luther locked her away with someone?_

She crawled forward, reaching a hand out as she tried to focus passed the shadow of the mattress. Her hand met ice, flinching back against the cold her stomach dropped and the hair on her arms stood on ends. She was scared, but…

“Hello?”

Half under the bed, really just a cot, her eyes focused just long enough to see who was with her.

Vanya screamed.

Her heart beating wildly in her ears as she scrambled away, away, away.

Vanya screamed and the soundproof chamber shook.

Gasping at the lack of air, she pushed out, needing desperately to leave, to, to, to find Allison show the others what was down here.

Vanya screamed and screamed, running out of the wall less chamber.

She screamed as the building shook and began to crumble around her, consuming and engulfing the secrets and body count of the Umbrella Academy.

Vanya screamed and the apocalypse…starts.

Vanya wakes up at 1:59 am March of 2002, 13 again, and surrounded by Five, Diego, Luther, and Allison in her old bedroom. They speak to her softly, soothingly, or Allison does. Ever blunt Five and Diego’s quick anger leaving them being shushed whenever they opened their mouths. Luther is standing by the door, significantly smaller than his 30-year-old enhanced form, and ever bit the awkward teen she remembered.

Allison speaks about forgiveness- like she hadn’t just killed billions. She speaks of family- like Ben and Klaus weren’t there. She speaks of training- like Vanya hadn’t _seen what was in that soundproof chamber._

She gives her sister a shaky smile, fighting down the panic and fear, disgust and surge of something that bubbled in her chest and made her room rattle with her powers.

Five starts talking next, training regiments, secrets, and not altering the timeline. She hums and has softly, listening to his theories fondly even as her eyes flicker across the room. She pretends to still be tired, letting Allison usher the boys out and kiss her cheek softly, a whispered promise and apology as she ran her fingers through her hair before following the out.

She waits, holding her breath for a moment and then two. Standing up, her knees buckled for a moment before she forced them to move. She folds her thinnest blanket, vainly trying to remember the steps Klaus had taught her when she had snuck out. Her hands shake, remembering his giggling voice telling her that they needed something to hold their stuff, before shoving money ( _stolen, he’d tell her later, from father_ ) a bottle of whiskey ( _to trade, he promised_ ) and a trinket or two ( _to sell off V, you wouldn’t believe how much this stuff is worth_ )

She packs a change of clothes and after much debate her violin. Slipping on her shoes, she glances down the hall before she darts into Klaus’ room. Without much glance at the bd (Empty) she goes through his things, grabbing a change of clothes and any money left out. Taking a deep breath, she darts across the hallway once more, creaking the door open as soundlessly as she could and squirming her way in, closing the door shut behind her.

The lamp light was on. For Klaus she knew. Her eyes darted to the bed. Ben was peaking out from corner, eyes heavy with sleep as he blinked at her slowly. He jerked his arm under the blanket, smacking into- Klaus rose from his curled position, hair fluffed out in tangled knots as he mumbled about being woken up.

“I got your things.” She told him sharply, holding the bag up, “Ben needs to pick what he’s taking.”

“Taking?” he asked, shimming his way down the bed from between Klaus and the wall.

“Where are we going?” Klaus asked, significantly more excited.

And she remembers hushed whispers conversations as they looked at monuments and postcards from fans as well as from their geography books.

“Didn’t you want to see the Grand Canyon?”

Ben and Klaus share a look and for a beat she terrified of what she would do if they said no.

“The others?” Ben asks weakly, even as Klaus jumps off the bed and grabs one of the sweaters on the floor, slipping it on over his pajamas with ease, it already dwarfs his figures, already a few sizes skinner then Ben.

Vanya shrugs, “They can take care of themselves.”

Glancing between them wearily, he watches Klaus’ rapidly growing excitement.

“Well… okay.”

Vanya takes them and runs, using every bit of knowledge from her 30 years. They crisscross the county taking in sights and learning history, the history of the people instead of only tactic wars. They find ways to help each other. The most expensive pair of noise canceling headphones are passed wordlessly between Klaus and Vanya and sign language gets picked up pretty fast. They find ways to feed the Horror without hurting Ben or other people- the Horror prefers lamb over chicken and almost anything over fish. While drugs are still a hard thing for Klaus he was no where addicted as he was, even in a just few years. But they power on, Vanya and Ben learning to let him touch them, shaking cold hands pressing against pulse points and heart beats, (still thin, Vanya thought moodily) arm wrapping around them when the dead crowd to close. They get use to leading Klaus blindfolded and with the headphones on.

A year passes and she had never seen Klaus or Ben smile as wildly and freely as they do as they catch trains and dance in the streets. She wants to regret it. Leaving the others, taking two of the Umbrella Academy away from saving lives. But she still wakes up screaming, screaming, screaming about what was under that bed in the prison. And she knows better.

It’s four years later, at 17, that they are found. Not by Reginald or the police, but by Five. He finds Ben, sweet oblivious Ben who had no idea he was supposed to die nine months ago. He’s working at the coffee shop across the street from the bakery Klaus was working in, which was a ten-minute walk from where Vanya taught violin lessons in a small music store. All of which was to pay for a one-bedroom apartment. So, it was a one-bedroom apartment, with easy remove wallpaper that Klaus would draw, write and color on the far-left wall and bunkbeds, the bottom being for a fitted queen and the top a twin. They didn’t mind sharing the room as Klaus ended up in one of their bed’s at some point in the middle of the night anyway, ear plastered over their hearts as he curled his arms around their backs, trying to seep the cold from his bones and take the heat from them.

That was neither here nor there. The fact was he found Ben, after stumbling back from shock he had shakily demanded an explanation. Tapping his cheek, Ben watched his brother’s frantic state for a moment before reaching out and grabbing his hand, carefully writing an address down.

“Get the others,” he advised, “Come around seven, all of us will be off work then.”

Before Five could demand more, Ben turn on the slight heel Klaus had forced him into that day and smiled prettily at a customer.

Growling, at the dismissal Five jumped. Unknowing leaving Ben as he quickly sent a text to their sister and other brother.

A couple things

One. Ben get’s off at five

Two. Klaus is generally beloved by his boss, so when he glances nervously at the clock and his phone, they send him home with some baguettes and a cake they iced wrong

Three. Vanya is done lessons at three and hangs around to help clean up and just work at the music store.

So, they got home at five thirty.

And panicked.

“Oh no!” Klaus moaned, “I didn’t plan for more mouths! Van- Van- Van I need to go to the store, we don’t have enough food!” he hissed, hands flying as he collected all of his cookbooks- there was nine, nine separate cookbooks that no one knows how he got- flipping through one before throwing it across the room. “The chicken has already been marinated!” he wailed.

Ben shifted, running in a circle around the room as he collected the books, trash, and then pillows and blankets left on the floor.

Vanya meanwhile had gone straight into their bedroom, climbed onto the queen bed and thrown a blanket over top of her head, staring into the darkness. And through the darkness she still saw the huddled form in thee soundproof room.

They ordered pizza.

A minute passed seven there is a knock at the door.

“You know, I thought he’d just bring them all in here.” Ben muttered, standing from his spot to let the others in.

They look better. Vanya thought. Then the first time around. Surer of themselves, more so then she thinks any of them had ever been. Wearing jeans and hoodies instead of the pressed mandatory uniforms. Diego doesn’t have a scar on the side of his face and Luther is standing tall instead of hunched in one himself. Five- gods- she hadn’t gotten to see Five grow up again. She could still pick up the sharpness of his nose and he still had the same unamused face.

She wondered what they looked like to them. Ben in dark jeans but a light red hoodie, a picture of a cartooned octopus on it- a gift from Klaus- his hair does not style back but instead messy and longer then Reginald had ever let his keep it. Klaus, finally not just bones, have a slight curve and fat to his still thin and whip like form, his nails were painted purple- as he had decide it was a purple week on Monday- and as thus was wearing fuzzy purple socks and lavender crop top that he had found at the thrift store. She wondered what they thought of her, her hair styled in a half bun by Klaus, with nails painted and tanner then she ever been in the first timeline or rather the second.

With a jolt she realized while she hadn’t seen Five reach 17, the others hadn’t seen Ben or...

Dinner is an awkward, silence, affair with Klaus grumbling about his chicken in the fridge every few minutes being the only thing to break the silence.

“Vanya.” Five finally snaps, “We need to talk.”

“We do.”

Ben takes the que, standing up and grabbing at the paper plates, before dragging Klaus along to ~~hide~~ help in the kitchen. That while not completely separated was better than nothing, Vanya thought, keeping them close by but not forced to sit in on the conversation.

“You left.”

“I did.” She agrees again.

“Do you know what you did to the timeline?” Five hissed, ignoring Luther’s nervous look between Vanya and him.

“Five, maybe-“

“I can control my powers One.” She snapped, ignoring his flinch, “And yes Five I know I messed with the timeline.”

“And what made you think that was a good idea! It’s one thing to change something small, but you left! You left and you took them!”

And Vanya can’t help the swell of anger, the resentment that bubbled and boiled like acid, and she stands pulling herself over her sitting siblings as she pointed to the kitchen- to Ben and Klaus peaking out at them nervously.

“I was thinking I wasn’t going to let them die.”

It was silent, Five blinking at her as he squinted like he was working on one of his equations.

“Wha-what are you talking about?”

She let out a rather rude noise from the back of her throat, “Did any of you once see Klaus in 2019?” she asked.

“Well no,” Luther admitted, “But Dad’s office was trashed, and stuff was taken, I thought he just left before I came in.”

“Vanya,” Allison whispered, “What are you saying?”

But she ignores her sister, “Did anyone see him after Ben’s funeral?”

“He-He ran away.” Diego said weakly, “He would disappear for days, it wasn’t a big leap.”

“You’re right.” She said prompt, “It makes sense, we all knew Klaus was close to Ben. We all knew Klaus would sneak out. We all _knew_ Klaus left the house at sixteen.” She paced, walking around her siblings as her hands snaked up to scratched against her arms- a newer nervous tick she got from Klaus- “We _knew_ , but we never saw or looked.”

“Vanya, we- Dad would have told us-“

She let out a hysterical giggle, “Dad’s the one that killed him!”

“Dad wouldn’t!” Luther shouted, looking at the other’s desperately.

“I asked Pogo.” She spat the name like a curse. “Klaus tried to summon Ben, and something went wrong." she paused, taking a deep breath as she spoke the next words "So, Dad locked him up.” Her eyes met Luther’s “In a tiny soundproof room.” Ignoring the color leaving his face she trailed off, “Mom almost told Diego, so Dad programmed Klaus out of her memories. But with no memories… and dad bringing Pogo with him... well no memories means no food.”

She left the hot tears sliding down her cheeks as she thought back to the soundproof room.

“He was left there, locked in, in a soundproof, airtight room... forgotten by everyone.”

_“Hello?” she had called softly, eyes darting around for before catching sight of the shape under the bed._

_Crawling forward and reaching a handout as she tried to focus passed the shadow of the mattress. Her hand met ice, flinching back against the cold her stomach dropped and the hair on her arms stood on ends. She was scared, but…_

_“Hello?”_

_Half under the bed, her eyes focused just long enough to see who was with her. He was in his Umbrella Academy uniform, though it sat on his frame like a tent, his cheeks were sunken in and she could see his collar bone starkly against pale gray white skin. He looked painfully young, as young as she last remembers him, and with dawning horror as she reached up to curl a hand on his icy cheek. His head lulled when she touched it, showing the flush of his lips and dry deadness of his curls, some even falling out besides him like a mockery of a halo._

“He had no way out and no one to help him.”

_He had tried, the fourth day food wasn’t brought down. Staring at Ben’s as his formed flickered. Trying to bring him forth, surely with the Horror he would-he could get out. But he'd couldn't re-create what he did, each time Ben went to summon the Horror he'd flicker and disappear from Klaus for hours._

“He was in the house at the funeral!” Luther shouted, “Klaus didn’t die, Dad didn't kill him!”

_But Ben became less and less corporal as Klaus lost weight and energy. “Please,” he begged, “Get Diego or Allison,” he cried, and Ben left, stepping into each sibling’ rooms, yelling and crying “Klaus is dying! Please! One of you!” but they didn’t hear him. Couldn't see him. So, Ben watched as Klaus' thin form turned to bone._

“His body was still there.”

_Ben sat with him, as he became more and more lethargic. “Benny,” Klaus sniffled. “It’s okay, I won’t leave you.” Ben comforted as much as he could_ _, wishing he could offer a hug or curl a hand through his brother’s curls. He blinked up at him slowly, eyes darting to the dead screaming around the room. Rolling off the cot army crawling under it, waiting a beat before beckoning Ben to follow. Ben went through the motion of crawling, turning to watch as Klaus got comfortable under the bed, and Ben watched from besides him_

_as_

_his_

_chest_

_stopped_

_moving._

“I killed billions- even if we erased that and rewrote it- I killed billions of lives.” Warm arms wrapped around her and peering up she was meet with Klaus’ hunched form, protecting her from their siblings, even as Ben covered her back, “But I could save them.”


End file.
